Size Seven and a Half
by Lily on the Briar
Summary: Sarah's morning wasn't going her way at all. And then there was that door...


A/N: Oneshot written as a response to Challenge #22 over at the Labyfic LiveJournal community

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Sarah swore loudly and slammed on the brakes as yet another light turned red just as she approached. Her first week on the job, one she had been very lucky to get, and she was already going to be late. She muttered insults under her breath about alarm clocks and mornings in general as she turned violently into the parking lot and jerked the car into a space. By the looks of the lot, she was still earlier than most of the others, but they had more flexibility than she was comfortable with just yet. She let herself in the side door of the building and walked quickly down the hallways to the main shop. Bracing herself for disapproval, she entered.

"Sorry," she began, but the woman inside held up a finger, cutting her short. Sarah stood silently and watched as she finished pinning the fabric she was holding to the dress form, then carefully removed the extra pins from her mouth and set them down.

"It's fine. There's a couple things I need you to pull for today. Grab my keys and run down and get a pair of boots for Wes, eights, or seven and half if we have them. Same style as the others." She gestured at a table along the side of the room, then turned back to the form she was working on. Sarah nodded, took the keys, and left quickly.

Her shoes squeaked against the cheap tile of the floor and the sound echoed in the mostly empty building. She walked briskly until she reached the wooden door she was looking for at the end of a hallway. She dug in her pockets for the keys she had been given and frowned as she flipped through several identical and unlabeled keys. She shrugged, and began trying them one by one.

Her frustration rose quickly as one after the other was rejected by the lock. Each of the keys was tried twice before she gave up and glared at the cheap lock. When it still didn't open, her gaze turned speculative, and she glanced back down the short hall to verify it was still empty. She didn't particularly want to return to the costume shop with her second mistake of the morning, especially when it was as simple as opening a door. And certainly not when it was something she might be able to solve on her own.

She took out the pins holding her hair back in a loose bun and began bending one, keeping another straight. She had never regretted teaching herself to pick locks, though it had been a while since she'd had to use the skill. Still, with a little bit of jiggling and twisting, the lock clicked and turned slightly. She grinned in triumph and carefully removed the bobby pins. The first one slid out with no trouble, but the second stuck. She frowned, it had been moving easily enough just seconds ago. She tried wiggling it, but it refused to move at all. Giving in, she gave it a hard tug, then fell backwards as half of it came away in her hand.

With a feeling of dread, she examined the lock and found the other half still firmly stuck inside. Gingerly, she tried to turn the handle, but it refused to move as well. She stared at it in horror. She had felt the lock turn, she was absolutely sure. It should have opened. She tried again, but the door was still locked. Her breathing quickened and she began to feel slightly panicked. There was no way she could return to the shop now.

Breathing deeply, she knelt down to face the lock at eye-level. She retrieved the first bobby pin she had removed and slowly slipped it back into the lock, hoping to work the second one loose. It was barely in when she felt it catch on something, pulling it out of her hands. She tried to take it out again, but it remained stuck, sticking out from the lock alongside the other.

She glared at the lock as her panic began to shift to anger. There was no reason for it to have stuck. It made no sense! She tried the handle again and growled when it stayed locked. She pulled on it harder, the metal slipping under her fingers.

"Come _on_!" she snarled. She yanked it back and forth, mumbling curses that gradually grew louder as the door remained firm. "Open already, you useless…"

Her hands slipped and she stumbled backwards. Gritting her teeth, she jerked at the handle again.

"Going to use you for kindling, going to make you into a toilet seat, going to dump you into the bog of eternal _stench_!" She threw her entire weight against the door and pulled until she felt something break and she fell back. She landed on the floor and glared up at the door. Pulling herself up with the handle, she nearly fell again when it turned under her hands with an uncomfortable click.

She stood and slowly opened the door, caught off guard by its sudden surrender. She felt along the wall inside for the light switch, but only found costumes. Sighing, she pushed the door all the way open to let in the light from the hallway. All she needed to do was find the boots and get them to the shop as soon as possible. She had already wasted far too much time on a very simple task.

She glanced through the racks nearest the door, finding the men's period-type costumes she had been expecting. She trailed her fingers along the clothes hung along the center of the room, looking at the floor for the shoes. Her hand dropped off the end of the rail and she grinned at the shoe rack that stood next to it. It was nicer than she expected, wood instead of wire and plastic, but more importantly, it had the boots she needed. She grabbed a pair from the middle of the rack and felt along the bottom for the number labelling the size. The sole felt odd, with less grip than she was used to and no particular markings. She raised the shoe to better catch the dim light, trying to find some kind of label. She turned it around, feeling inside it, but couldn't find so much as the name of the last person who had worn it.

She was ready to simply take the pair and hope it was the right size when a shadow blocked her light from the door. Her heart plummeted, had she taken so long that Ann had felt the need to come check on her? She slowly turned and dropped the boots in shock when, instead of the woman she expected, the Goblin King stood in the doorway.

She gaped for a moment, then closed her eyes. She hadn't really had enough coffee that morning, and she was clearly more tired than she had thought, because her childhood villain was absolutely not standing in the room with her. Behind her eyelids she could see the light in the room change. When she opened them again, the room was warmly lit, and she could tell now that although the room was filled with clothes, most of which wouldn't have been out of place on the stage, she was not in the room she had been shown on her brief tour of the building.

A yawn came from the doorway and her eyes snapped back to the figure there. He had obviously not noticed her. He appeared to have just woken up and was ruffling his hair as he sauntered into the room. Her instinct was to back up, but there wasn't anywhere to go. The closet she was in was smaller than the room she had thought she had entered and the back wall was right behind her. She was beginning to consider the fact that she would probably have to address the Goblin King if she was going to get back, when he rounded the corner of the rack she was standing beside and she realized that not only had he just gotten out of bed, he had obviously not worn anything to sleep.

Her mouth fell open again, and she uttered a strangled squeak. The king heard her, stopping short in his lazy perusal of his wardrobe. He slowly turned to face her and she was briefly satisfied to see him look as shocked as she felt. His expression quickly shifted to a wide grin and he took a step towards her, reminding her of his state. She whirled around and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Put some damn pants on!" she growled at him. After years in theater, she had thought nudity had little ability to bother her, but a naked Goblin King was not something she had been prepared to deal with that morning. She heard rustling behind her and prayed he was following her order.

"I was not expecting an audience," he said after a moment, and she jumped slightly. He was closer than she had expected.

She chanced a glance over her shoulder and saw he was facing her, arms crossed and smirking, apparently waiting for her to look back. She turned around raised an eyebrow at his clothing.

"Couldn't manage to find a shirt?" she asked aridly, glancing around at the room full of clothing. There was enough to outfit a decent sized cast. Her gaze returned to him and she firmly kept her eyes on his face. He was still smirking at her and she glared.

"Wouldn't want to rush the decision," he replied.

They remained silent for several minutes, staring at each other. She was still in a mild state of shock. The whole situation had a feel of unreality to it, like one of her more vivid dreams.

He cleared his throat. "Care to explain how you managed to find your way to my dressing room?" he asked lightly.

She stared at him in disbelief. "Care to explain why you brought me here?" she returned.

He looked down his nose at her. "I can assure you, your presence here was not my doing."

Her eyebrows shot upward. "Well, let's think, out of the two of us, which is the fairy tale king with magic powers? Because last time I checked, I wasn't the one stealing people away for fun."

"Even if you had been wished away, which I could easily believe, I would have had to collect you. One way or another, this is quite clearly your doing, Sarah."

She rolled her eyes. "Oh, clearly! I used my magical pixie dust to transport myself here, because there was really no place in the world I'd rather be. That's much more reasonable!"

Instead of the heated response she expected, the Goblin King tilted his head and frowned at her. Turning his attention away, he rolled his wrist and formed a crystal in his palm, then stared into it intently. His frown grew deeper as he watched until, with a growl, he closed his hands around the crystal, crushing it until it disappeared. He looked at her again and addressed her haughtily.

"You're correct, my apologies. It is ridiculous to suggest you would have the ability to bring yourself here." Sarah waited for him to elaborate, but he seemed to think he had sufficiently addressed the situation.

"Then why am I here?" she finally asked.

He kept his eyes firmly to the side of her face. "I am not certain," he ground out.

She sighed deeply, then held her breath for several seconds as she worked to control her growing urge to hit something.

"Would you happen to know how I can get back then, since we both agree I haven't suddenly developed magic?"

He suddenly grinned and formed another crystal, lightly tossing it in his hand. "Of course," he replied.

She gritted her teeth. "You could have mentioned."

He continued smiling and she considered that the longer he made her stay, the more likely he was to regret it.

"You didn't ask."

Before she could respond, he tossed the crystal to her and she caught it reflexively. The world swam and fell back from her. She reached out to grab onto something, but the room shifted too quickly. She fell forward and stumbled over the ground that came up to meet her, landing on her hands and knees.

Catching her breath and looking around, she saw the hallway she had been in earlier. She stood and brushed herself off, a bit shakily. Behind her was the door she had fought earlier. She eyed it warily, then reached out and carefully turned the handle. To her surprise, it opened easily. She felt along the wall and found the light switch, exactly where it belonged.

She closed the door again and was about to return to the shop when she saw the pair of boots she had picked up before sitting innocently against the wall, just outside of the door. She hesitated, then grabbed the boots and walked quickly down the hall.


End file.
